Teacher pleads guilty to having sex with student

Tampa, Fla.  A female teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday to having sex with a 14-year-old student, avoiding prison as part of a plea agreement.

Debra Lafave, 25, will serve three years of house arrest and seven years' probation. She pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery.

The boy told investigators the two had sex in a classroom at the school, in her Riverview house and once in a vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around.

If convicted at trial in Hillsborough County, she could have faced up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Wayne Timmerman said LaFave also will forever lose her teaching certificate, must register with the state as a sexual predator, may not have any contact with children including the victim, and will not be allowed to profit from the sale of her story or personal appearances.

Fitzgibbons said in July that plea negotiations had broken off because prosecutors insisted on prison time, which he said would be too dangerous for someone as attractive as Lafave.